Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman - What You Need To Know

The sultry songstress returns today with her new album Dangerous Woman (you can preview and purchase it on the right-hand side of the page) and here is everything you need to know about it...

A little background…

Ariana Grande unveils Dangerous Woman after a pretty flawless couple of years. Her previous effort My Everything sold handsomely, with three of its singles selling over a million copies. She toured the world, sold out arenas all over the planet and then returned to the studio.

Everything seems to be set up very nicely, especially when you consider that Grande’s single ‘Focus’, which was released last October, has sold almost 500,000 copies and went Top 10 in the UK, hasn’t even been included on the album. She must be feeling quite confident about the other tracks then...

Who’s producing it?

Max Martin, songwriter supreme after masterminding huge hits for Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding and countless others, is the main man here. Most of the other producers are writers he works with regularly, but there are also contributions from hip-hop powerhouse Twice As Nice and Chloe Angelides, who helped Jessie J write 'Burnin Up' and Sevyn Streeter pens ‘How Bad You Want It (Oh Yeah)’

Any special guests?

Yes indeed, four to be precise. First up is Nicki Minaj, who is on a track named ‘Side To Side’, Lil Wayne, who adds his gruff tones to ‘Let Me Love You’, next we’ve got Macy Gray, who is on ‘Leave Me Lonely’, and finally Future, he’s on a cut titled ‘Everyday’.

What does it sound like?

This is a much darker record, owing far more to R’n’B than My Everything did. The grooves are danker, the bass much more prominent in the mix and the pace slower. There’s no EDM banger this time and the choruses are smooth, rather than hands to the sky style. It’s also a much more confident record, as you can probably tell from the title, with Grande playing with lots more ideas and in a far more inquisitive mood. You can hear a lot of Lana Del Rey’s earlier work on here as well as classic R’n’B like Brandy, Mariah Carey’s Heartbreaker era and Aaliyah.

Does it deliver?

Absolutely. This is a sleek, self-assured and interesting pop record, Grande’s only to get bigger on this album cycle.